Balloon system and methods for treating obesity

ABSTRACT

A medical system for the treatment of morbid obesity comprising an inflatable balloon implanted in a gastric cavity, a percutaneous fillant delivery tube and a control module connected to the tube for regulating the inflation and deflation of the balloon. The balloon may be individually contoured and inflated to occupy a large volume of the gastric cavity to provide a feeling of satiety. The balloon may also be deflated to give the gastric cavity lining a rest during less critical time.

RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation-in-part application of and claims the benefit and priority of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/513,583, filed Nov. 2, 2004, and a continuation-in-part application of and claims the benefit and priority of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/257,724, filed Oct. 24, 2008, the contents of which are incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

1. Field

This invention generally relates to the treatment of morbid obesity and, more specifically, to a system and method for treating morbid obesity using a variably cycled percutaneous balloon implanted in the gastric cavity.

2. General Background

Morbid obesity is a major health problem confronting the general public and health care industry today. It is estimated that approximately 50% of the U.S. population is overweight and over ten million Americans are more than 100 pounds over their ideal weight. Generally, a person is considered morbidly (or seriously) obese if they are 100 pounds or more over their ideal weight. The morbidly obese group faces increased health risks including a higher likelihood of heart disease, hypertension, diabetes and certain cancers. Over 300,000 Americans die of obesity related illnesses each year. In addition, the morbidly obese generally have lower self-esteem and are more likely to suffer from depression than the general public.

Most obese individuals have struggled unsuccessfully with their weight for a lifetime. The numerous diets, behavioral therapy and treatments such as hypnosis, pituitary hormones and appetite suppressant drugs attest to the great difficulty many overweight people have in losing weight and keeping it off. Some of these weight loss strategies can be successful in the mildly obese people, but nearly all fail in individuals considered morbidly obese. These disappointing results have led many patients and their doctors to consider surgery as an option for weight loss.

Surgical techniques bring about weight loss primarily by limiting how much the stomach can hold. Today's most common surgical procedures to promote weight loss focus on decreasing food intake by restriction. Gastric banding, gastric bypass and vertical-banded gastroplasty are surgeries that limit the amount of food the stomach can hold by closing off or removing parts of the stomach. Other surgeries attempt to permanently fill the stomach with an inflated balloon. These treatments are invasive, require major surgery with hospitalization and are associated with complications.

The success rates of current treatments and procedures have been poor. With the restrictive procedure, the patient is usually limited to eating very small amounts of food at a time. For many people, this can create a “satisfied” feeling, but they often do not feel “full”. The ability to eat a large amount of food at one time is lost; consequently, many patients return to eating excessive amounts of high calorie or high sugar liquid foods. Essentially, their diet includes milk shakes and ice cream.

As to the balloon procedure of the past, very limited positive results were achieved. The balloon was relatively small when compared to the overall volume of the morbidly obese stomach. This is due to physiological limitation on the balloon volume. That is, complications of the device precluded enlarging it to a volume that would occupy more of the stomach. Yet, in order for the balloon to achieve a patient's feeling of fullness and satiation, the balloon would need to occupy a large portion (volume) of the patient's stomach. A balloon occupying this much volume without fixation or an inflation/deflation cycling has the potential of blocking food flow and causing necrosis of the stomach wall, ulcers and/or bleeding.

Moreover, success depends on the ability of a treatment to “normalize” not only the mechanical and neurohormonal sensation of feeling full and satiated, but also involves psychological factors. Both the mechanical and neurohormonal factors relate to one's need to feel “full” and “satiated”. Chemicals released by the stomach during the digestive process largely drive these factors. In other words, filling the stomach or limiting its pouch size controls these chemicals. Current surgical approaches, however, fail to achieve this global feeling of “satiety” response as they restrict food entry only into the small proximal stomach pouch and bypass the distal stomach where most of the neurohormonal chemical are normally released. Medical therapy is focused almost exclusively at the brain level and is likely to continue to fail as patients experience mood disorders and complications from medications. Accordingly, there is a need for a system and method for treating morbid obesity by restoring or normalizing the appropriate “fullness signals” from the stomach itself as this is the organ that regulates fullness. In particular, the system and method of the invention should cause a feeling of satiety from the stomach itself with less consumption of food by a morbidly obese patient.

SUMMARY

A system and method for treating morbid obesity using a variably cycled percutaneous balloon implanted in the gastric cavity to elicit signals directly from the entire stomach in order to cause a feeling of satiety with less food. This novel approach has the potential to offer a less invasive, more complete elicitation of the feeling of fullness in patients who chronically, and perhaps genetically overeat. The system of the invention includes a balloon device that is contoured to occupy the vast majority of the volume of the stomach. The system also has the capacity to automatically inflate and deflate the balloon, thereby avoiding the problem of pressure induced injury. With the advent of CT scanning and 3-dimensional imaging, patients may have balloons individually designed to meet the specific morphologic features of their stomachs. By fixation of the balloon device, the problems of migration and obstruction are avoided. Furthermore, the system and process of the invention apply appropriate inflation/deflation cycling with a computerized device so as to avoid complications of past devices.

These and other features and advantages of the invention will become more apparent with a discussion of preferred embodiments in reference to the associated drawings.

DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a schematic view of a variably cycled percutaneous balloon placed within the gastric cavity of an individual in accordance with an embodiment of the invention; and

FIG. 2 illustrates a cross-sectional view of an inflatable balloon and a fillant delivery tube according to the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

With reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, a variably cycled percutaneous balloon system 100 for treating morbid obesity is illustrated and comprises an inflatable balloon no individually contoured to each patient's stomach, a percutaneous inflation or fillant delivery tube 120 having a proximal end and a distal end connected to the balloon no, and a control module 130 connected to the proximal end of the tube 120. The tube 120 includes at least one opening 115 for filling the balloon 110 with a biocompatible fillant. The control module 130 variably controls the inflation and deflation of the balloon no with the biocompatible fillant such as a liquid, gas, gel or a mixture thereof. In accordance with the teachings of the present invention, the tube 120 is passed through and affixed to abdominal wall 160 and stomach wall 150. The balloon no is then positioned into the stomach or gastric cavity 140. The positioning of the balloon 110 may be done, e.g., by the percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) technique, which is known in the art. The balloon no and tube 120 may be separate or integral components that are constructed from any surgical grade material. For example, the balloon no may be made from latex rubber which expands upon introduction of a fillant, and the tube 120 may be constructed of a metal or plastic material. The tube 120 is connected to the control module 130, which may be a fixed unit or a portable unit mounted to the patient's side. The control module 130 may be a personal computer such as a desktop computer, a laptop computer or a handheld computer. The control module 130 further includes a device such as a pump for introducing and removing a fillant to and from the balloon no.

A novel feature of the system 100 is it variably controls the inflation and deflation of the balloon no. For example, the system 100 may inflate and deflate the balloon no throughout a predetermined period of time such as a 24-hour period. The balloon no would occupy a large volume of the stomach 140 (as shown by reference number 110(a)) when it would be most beneficial for weight loss, and deflate to give the stomach lining a rest (as shown by reference number 110(b)) during less critical time, e.g., during sleeping time. Furthermore, an algorithm tailored to each patient's needs and programmed into the control module 130 is used to control the balloon size to minimize the desire to eat and to prevent blockage or stomach lining necrosis. Unlike the restrictive procedures of the prior art, the variable inflated balloon no would not limit nutrient absorption and not lead to altered food choices. This is achieved as the balloon no contacts a major portion of the stomach wall 150 when the balloon no is fully inflated. Thus, the system 100 of the invention creates a feeling of fullness and satiation by balancing the physiological, neurohormonal and chemical factors.

It will be understood that many modifications can be made to the disclosed embodiments without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. As such, the above description should not be construed as limiting the invention, but should be interpreted as merely exemplary of preferred embodiments. 

1-7. (canceled)
 8. A method of treating obesity, the method comprising: automatically inflating a gastric device in a stomach of a human patient with a biocompatible fillant, wherein the gastric device is inflated to a predetermined size with a predetermined volume of the biocompatible fillant, wherein the gastric device comprises— an inflatable balloon; a fillant delivery tube connected to a portion of the balloon, wherein the biocompatible fillant is transferred to the balloon via the fillant delivery tube; and wherein the balloon comes in contact with a portion of a wall of the stomach when the balloon is in the inflated state such that an outer surface of the balloon contacts an inner surface of the wall.
 9. The method of claim 8 wherein automatically inflating the gastric device in the stomach further comprises introducing the biocompatible fillant into the inflatable balloon with a pump.
 10. The method of claim 8 wherein automatically inflating the gastric device in the stomach further comprises pumping the biocompatible fillant into and out of the inflatable balloon.
 11. The method of claim 8 wherein the balloon contacts a major portion of a body of the stomach when the balloon is in the inflated state.
 12. The method of claim 8 wherein automatically inflating the gastric device in the stomach with the biocompatible fillant comprises: connecting a proximal end of the fillant delivery tube to an external control module; and regulating the inflation of the balloon using the control module.
 13. A gastric device, comprising: an inflatable balloon, wherein the inflatable balloon is sized to make contact with a portion of a wall of a stomach of a human patient when the balloon is in an inflated state such that an outer surface of the balloon contacts in inner surface of the wall; and a control module for automatically inflating the balloon in the stomach with a biocompatible fillant, wherein the gastric device is configured to be inflated to a predetermined size with a predetermined volume of the biocompatible fillant.
 14. The gastric device of claim 13 wherein the inflatable balloon is further sized to make contact with a major portion of a body of the stomach.
 15. The gastric device of claim 13 wherein the control module further comprises a pump configured to introduce the fillant to the balloon.
 16. The gastric device of claim 13 wherein the control module further comprises a pump configured to remove the fillant from the balloon.
 17. A gastric device, comprising: an inflatable balloon; a fillant delivery tube configured to be connected to a portion of the inflatable balloon, wherein a biocompatible fillant is transferred to the inflatable balloon via the fillant delivery tube; and means for automatically inflating the balloon in a stomach of a human patient with a biocompatible fillant, wherein the gastric device is configured to be inflated to a predetermined size with a predetermined volume of the biocompatible fillant, and wherein the inflatable balloon is sized to make contact with a portion of a wall of the stomach when the balloon is in an inflated state such that an outer surface of the balloon contacts an inner surface of the wall.
 18. The gastric device of claim 17 wherein the balloon is sized to make contact with a major portion of the wall of the stomach when the balloon is in an inflated state.
 19. The gastric device of claim 17 wherein the means for automatically inflating the balloon comprises a pump.
 20. The gastric device of claim 17 wherein the means for automatically inflating the balloon comprises an external control module, and wherein the external control module is connected to a proximal end of the fillant delivery tube. 